Jenkins



Sheets-Sheet 2. NS. G SHEET METAL.

(No Model.)

I N KM NT.. Em S U T ,A Dn... A P. .A

'di l l Vx UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN JENKINS, OE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OE ONE-HALE To THE ST. LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY, OE SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters Patent No. 5oe,e41, aatea'Augst l15, 189e.

' Application filed December 15, 1892. Serial No. 455,298. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JENKINS, of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Rolling Sheet Metal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The improvement under consideration, relates to an apparatus forthe treatment of thin sheet metal, such for instance as tin plate, and more especially to the treatment which follows the pickling of the plates and smooths and polishes them.

The practice hitherto has usually been, as the plates comefrom the pickling-bath, to mass them in piles of, say one thousand totwo thousand pounds, and transfer them to an annealing furnace where they are subjected to conditions analogous to those which obtain in such a furnace, and where they are detained generally twenty four hours and the slime uponthe plates meanwhile removed, and then to separately cold-roll the plates.

My obj ect is to abbreviato and cheapen the work in question, and to that end the improvement consists in the invention, substan-y vof this specification, and exhibiting a desirable apparatus for carrying out theimproved method, and in which Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 2 a plan of the same; Fig. 3 a vertical longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 an end elevation of the ap-V paratus. A

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

A represents a train of rolls. In the present instance ve pairs of rolls are shown, namely the rolls B, B', which are designed more especially for removing moisture `from the plates;\two pairs, C, C', and D, D', ofhollow rolls which are adapted to be heated; and

' two pairs, E, E' and F, F', of solid rolls which are adapted for cold-rolling. The vseries however can consist of any desired number of pairs so long as a portion of themare adapted for hot-rolling and another portion of them for cold-rolling. The first named pair, B, B', are not absolutely essential but are quite desirable as they serve to expedite the operation and to keep the hot rolls from being cooled as much as they would be but for the use of the first named pair of rolls. The rolls B, B', are adapted for the work they have to perform preferably by means of a rubber facing b, substantially as shown, which in effect enables the rolls to act upon the plates in a manner analogous to that of the rolls of a wringer. The rolls C, C', and D, D', are adapted to be heated to any desirable degree, and as a general rule they are heated to above a cherry red and even considerably higher, and it may be said the hotter the better. It is not essential that all the pairs of the hot rolls be heated to the same degree, and where a series of hot rolls are used those of them which are toward the cold rolls may be the cooler ones, the object being to highly heat the plates and then to lower the heat thereof more or less gradually as they approach the cold-rolls. This is desirable for the sake of producing an effect analogous to an annealing one.

The heating of the rolls can be accomplished in any preferred manner as, for instance, by conducting gas through pipes, G,

into the interiors, c, d, of the hot rolls and there burning it. In the arrangement shown the pipe G has branches g, g', which respectively lead to the lower rolls C, D, and the upperrrolls C', D', and to provide for the rotary ,Y

motion of the rolls said branches pass through suitable glands, g2, and to provide for the vertical motionof the upper rolls the branches g', Work through glands, g3, .which are connected with the main pipe, all substantially as shown.

While it is not essential that the various pairs of the described rolls be connected so as to be operated by the same driver it is quite desirable that they be immediately associated, substantially as shown, to facilitate theoperation under consideration, as thereby the mechanism is simplified and the plates after being introduced between the first pair of rolls are automatically and rapidly carried through the entire series of rolls, and a single handling of the plates suffices. Accordingly the preferable arrangement of the rolls is the one shown that is, the entire series of rolls is sustained and suitably j ournaled in a single housing H, and the rolls are adapted to rotate in the proper direction to cause a plate after being entered into the first pair, B, B', of rolls to be carried through the remaining rolls successively and inally tobe discharged at the opposite end of the train. To this end one of the journals, say the journal, b', of the roll B, is extended to receive a driving pulley I, and each journal of the lower rolls in the series is provided with a gear wheel, J, and in addition to the gears named there is another series of gear Wheels K, K', K2, and K3. These last named gear wheels are journaled upon the shafts 7.a, la', k2, k3, respectively, and they are relatively arranged, substantially as shown, to engage with the gear wheels J and to enable the motion of the wheel J upon the journal b' to be transmitted to the wheel K, thence to the wheel J upon the journal of the roll C, thence to the wheel K', thence to the wheel J upon the journal of the roll D, thence to the wheel K2, thence to the wheel J upon the journal of the roll E, thence to the wheel K3, and thence to the wheel J upon the journal of the roll F. This enables the lower rolls of the series to be rotated as indicated by the arrows and the upper rolls of the series are adapted to coact with the lower rolls respectively as in ordinary rolls, and substantially as shown. Any other suitable means, such as pulleys and belting, for instance, may be employed for operating the described series of rolls in the manner described.

In operation the plates as they come from the pickling bath are introduced successively to the iirst pair of rolls which as the plate passes between them bear sufficiently upon the plate to feed it along and to wipe a large portion of the moisture from it. From these rolls the plate passes to the iirst pair of the hot rolls and is by them heated and more or less cleansed of the slime which is apt to be upon sheet metal plates taken from a pickling bath. From these rolls the plate passes to the second pair of hot-rolls and the heating and cleansing of the plate continue. As

stated, any desired number, one, two, three, or more,of pairs of heatingrolls may be used; that is, if one pair is not sufficient two pairs may be employed, or three pairs, or even more, as may be found necessary to properly accomplish the work of heating and cleansing the plates. From the hot-rolls the plate passes to the first one of the pairs of cold-rolls which serve to compress, smooth and polish the plate in a manner similar to that in which cold rolls usually operate upon plate metal, and thence the plate passes to the last pair of cold-rolls and the operation of smoothing and polishing the plate continues. From the last named pair of rolls the plate is discharged to be delivered from the apparatus. Any desired number, one, two, three, or more, of pairs of cold-rol1s may be employed according to the extent to which it is desired to operate upon the plates. The plates pass rapidly through the apparatus, andinstead of taking a day or more for treating the plates but avery short time suffices. vThe cost of handling the plates is also materially lessened. The first pair of the cold-rolls, after the operation of the apparatus is under way, becomes more or less warmed from contact with the plates, and thus the change from the hot to the cold rolls is less abrupt.

The present apparatus can also beused for cold-rolling sheet iron; that is, the heating of the so-styled hot rolls may be omitted and these rolls may be utilized to act as ordinary cold rolls in conjunction with the rollsE E' and F F', thus providing a means for cold rolling which can be readily and economically operated.

If desired the hot-portion of the train can be heated by means of an external application of heat thereto; heat, for instance, can be directed upward between the two standards of the housing so as to encounter and circulate around the rolls C, C', and D, D', and to this end any suitable means, not shown, may be employed to `concentrate the described application of heat upon the particular part in Aquestion of the train.

I claim The combination of the series of pairs of wiping rolls, hot rolls, and cold rolls, the series of gear wheels J, the series of gear wheels K, K', die., the heating pipes G, and the housing, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this 12th day of December, 1892. l

`JOI-IN JENKINS. Witnesses:

C. D. MOODY, A. BoNvrLLE.

IOO 

